Coding Culture. Between Map & Territory

Course Description

-------UNDER CONSTRUCTION-------

The dichotomy between technology and culture is vanishing in a society that recognizes more and more the fact that culture and technology are deeply intertwined. Computer technology and software have a big impact on cultural practices, and at the same time cultural discourses on technology are shaping the construction of technical artefacts. The aim of this course is to study the mutual influences between technology, culture and artefacts. The students will be divided into two groups. The students will investigate the agency of technology in the information society. The Actor Network Theory and Latour's notion of the 'thing' will be used to map and revisit the relations between artefacts (technology) and developers and users (culture). Based on existing literature on the subject, students will explore the following themes:

* The medium specific characteristics of computer technology and software * The agency of computers, software and protocols * Connections and influences between artefacts, developers and users * The parliament of things (Latour) for the information society

Course objectives

Students will learn to differentiate different approaches to describe and research technology. By reading literature from the field of Science and Technology Studies (S+TS) with special focus upon Actor Network Theory (ANT) students will obtain the terminology and methods of this field and be able to apply them to their own research. They will develop a balanced understanding towards the "nature" of technology and its socio-political denotation.

Deadlines

Assignments are due every Friday 12:00, posted to the discussion forum on the course's website (do not post attachments).

Presentations are due the Friday before. Students presenting in Tuesday's class meetings have to attend the consultation hour on Thursday (14:00-15:00).

Final paper is due 28th June 2010; 12:00 in the course's pigeon hole on the first floor at KNG 20 and by e-mail to M [dot] T [dot] Schaefer [at] uu.nl as odt, rtf, txt or doc; (individual works only; group papers are not admitted, re-submitting earlier work is not admitted).

Compulsary ActivityVisit your local science and technology museum and have a look at the collection of scientific instruments and think of the relation between instrument, the collection of data and the representation of nature.University Museum Utrecht

Further Reading

Highlights from 350 Years of modern science presented by The Royal Society, 2009 (pdf)

* Reddy, Arun (2010), The Science and Technology of Air Traffic Control, in Ars Technica, March 2010, online. * Stokes, Jon (2009), The Matrix, but with Money. The World of High-Speed Trading, in Ars Technica, July 2009, online.